Asymmetrical - Day 69 #CY365

Asymmetrical - my Transformer cufflinks a gift from my grandson Robert were the perfect solution for today's photo prompt. I love asymmetrical cufflinks and have several pair from Würkin Stiffs and a few others. The first time I wore these to work last year I was sitting in a meeting and the guy sitting to my right asked me if that was an "Autobot" on my cufflink. I said yes, then showed him the "Decepticon" on the left cuff and he laughed out loud. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/1000 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Emerging - Day 68 #CY365

The cold winter has made all the flowers emerge later this year. These daffodils are just getting ready to open up. With warmer temperature forecast for this week, I expect flowers will be opening up everywhere. Canon 5D Mark II 1/250 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro with LED ring light.

Frustrated - Day 66 #CY365

We still have a copper POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) line at our house. I know, I know - dinosaurs are we. We a few weeks back Verizon called us and wanted to shift us over to the fiber optic network. We scheduled an appointment for this Saturday to have the work done. So we think we'll all set. But Nooooo! Earlier this week the confirmation calls started. Automated calls requesting us to confirm the appointment, again and again and again. I guess most people stand them up for appointments. Each call was a pleasant recorded female voice asking to confirm our appointment and then quickly rattling off an 866 number to call and a 10 digit confirmation code. The code number is not repeated and its required when you call back. You would think they could track this by your home phone number but not so. No confirmation code and no where else to go on the automated menu. So I was popping through the caller ID and decided this was prefect for today's 365 prompt. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/50 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600, first use of my new LED macro ring light and post-processed in Picasa using the Lomo-ish effect.

Choose a Favorite - Day 62 #CY365

Today's challenge was to choose a favorite color. My favorite color is red but I thought I try a little color theory with today's photo. I formed a color wheel using my grandson's crayons. The arrangement of the colors around the wheel help define both complimentary and analogous colors. Complementary colors can be found by choosing any color around the wheel and then looking straight across the wheel. For red the complimentary color is green, think Christmas. Yellow's complimentary color is violet and blue's is orange. Analogous colors are those on either side of main color. In the case of red, it's red orange and red violet. A color wheel is a very useful tool for decorators, artists, photographers and even a guy when picking a tie or socks to match that shirt. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/500 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro, LED ring light and two LED litepanels.

Keep Going - Day 59 #CY365

Moving up the kettlebell train. Got to keep going because as they say, "no pain - no gain". Canon 5D Mark II, 1/20 sec @ f/3.2, ISO 1600.

Bittersweet - Day 56 #CY365

Today's prompt - Bittersweet. I eschewed the obvious, chocolate, and went for liquor instead. Here my friends is a Rob Roy, a cocktail created in 1894 by a bartender at the Waldorf Astoria New York. Similar to a Manhattan, it is basically Scotch whiskey, sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters garnished with a maraschino cherry. The best part of today's project, drinking the prop. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/60sec @ f/4.5, ISO 400, illuminated with three LED Litepanels.

Crowded Around - Day 54 #CY365

My PEZ Army has my back as I work at my computer. This crowd of about 600 PEZ dispensers always blows visitors away. I must admit they are pretty awesome until it comes time to dust them off. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/60 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 800, 14mm wide angle lens.

Focusing - Day 30 #CY365

Our late blooming Christmas Cactus is the subject of my "Focusing" photo for today. Using a macro lens for an extreme close-up results in a very shallow depth of field allowing the photographer to to draw the viewer into a certain part the photo which is in sharpest focus. In this case the purple stigma and the pollen covered stamen are the focal point. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/125 sec @ f/7.1, ISO 1600, one LED Litepanel held below the flower and just barely out of the frame.

Caring - Day 25 #CY365

Caring - “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.” - Jane Austen from Emma.
"There is nothing to be compared to it. Warmth and tenderness of heart, with an affectionate, open manner, will beat all the clearness of head in the world . . . "

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/3200 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 1600, 100mm macro lens, converted to black and white using Silver Efex Pro II.

Umbrellas - Day 23 #CY365

Umbrellas - Day 23 of 365. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/1000 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens, backlit with LED litepanel.

Upset - Day 20

Upset - Canon 5D Mark II, 1/320 sec @ f/8.0, ISO 200, 24mm focal length.

Abandoned - Day 19 #CY365

"Abandoned" - a line up of abandoned sea mark buoys at L. Chenman, Inc. Scrap Metals in Norfolk, Virginia. The green buoys are know to mariners as "green cans" which is also the name of a local microbrew from O'Connor Brewing Co. located just a few blocks from the Chenman buoys.

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/100 sec @ f/16, ISO 100.

Pose - Day 18 #CY365

Miss Piggy strikes a pose and says "Moi has always possessed a charm that is lethal to men." Canon 5D Mark II, 1/1000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800, 100mm macro lens.

Knobby - Day 17 #CY365

Today's challenge was "Knobby" so I spotted this tactile mat at the light rail pedestrian crossing on Monticello Avenue in Norfolk Virginia on my way to the office. The early morning sunlight provided nice shadows. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/250 sec @ f/5.0, ISO 100 zoom at 95mm focal length.

Footprints - Day 12 #cy365

Most of the footprints left on the beach today were from the seagulls. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/2000 sec @ f/4, ISO 100.

In Good Hands - Day 11 #CY365

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/80 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 400, 100mm macro lens, two LED Litepanels.

Natural Treasure - Day 7 #CY365

I've taken hundreds of sunset photos over the years but I can never seem to pass one by. Today's theme was natural treasure and the winter sunset seemed to fit the bill perfectly. We have had a number of really nice sunsets recently and this mother nature's intent. During the winter months the sun is at a much lower angle in the sky and farther away from the earth so it's light travels through more atmosphere. This tends to filter the higher frequency blue spectrum light leaving more of the lower frequency red spectrum light to light up the evening sky. Canon 5D Mark II, 1/5 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800.

Forked - Day 5 #CY365

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/1000 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800 with three LED Litpanels for illumination.

A Little Bit - Day 4 #CY365

Today's theme was "A little bit", so Cindy suggested a little drill bit. This is a 1/16" drill bit photographed with a macro lens at 4X magnification. It illustrates the smallness of the drill bit with small specks of dust along the edges and the extremely shallow depth of field a macro lens creates. At this 4X magnification and f/5.6 aperture the depth of field (area in focus) is about the width of drill bit itself.

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/80 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 800, Canon 65mm MP-E macro lens with lighting provided by two LED Litepanels positioned on either side about two inches away.

365 Again - Day 1

So I'm starting off 2014 with the goal of completing another 365 Project - one photo per day for the entire year. I did this beginning in 2009 and continued each year through 2012, 1,461 straight days of photos and blog posts. I slowed down a bit in 2013, posting occasionally to CIOPhoto.com but getting back into the swing of things in December by posting daily pictures of Norfolk at night. So come along for the ride through 2014. I love getting comments and please free free to offer photo suggestions, especially challenging ones.

Canon 5D Mark II, 1/25 sec @ f/4.0, ISO 1600.